This Season Of Love
by sctwilightvampwolfgal
Summary: This time of year bespeaks of love as friendship is guided to something a little different, as friends appreciate one another, and families grow closer together. Yet, every story is unique to the people within and every moment is a new day to experience the joys of love. *Oneshot Collection written for the Miraculous Valentine's Event on Tumblr by We Are Miraculous.*
1. Candy (Hearts)

The transition is smooth, smooth as the candy heart he'd given her, 'Be My Valentine.' It tickles as it starts, and Rose isn't sure that there are words for this, at all. She's used to the sway of the tide, used to knowing that days dip in and dip out, filled to the brim with so much potential, potential that was easy to forget could be for her.

She'd learned from her mother what love meant, not to say that her father didn't teach her too. Rose had heard her mother's soft reassurances for as long as she could remember, and then as the years past got caught up in the life lessons behind those same reassurances. But, she hadn't thought that she'd be in love. She was the happy girl in Kindergarten that everyone thought would have kiddy crushes and be smitten. She hadn't, then. She'd seen the friends and potential friends around her and that's what caught her eye growing up.

Rose has always been a friend maker. Friend makers aren't usually romance builder uppers, because they are busy being the kind of friends that everyone needs. Rose would come up with jokes, be cheery, laugh, and of course, pay close attention to whatever they might need. It meant that it wasn't unheard of for her to need to go grab juice or offer a hug or even invite someone over for a quick bite to eat.

She'd actually start packing dog treats, despite not owning a dog, and little packs of gummies to offer to the dogs and the kids that she meets, respectively. She couldn't just not offer something, and even a little bit of time meant the world. Still, Rose loved romance movies, enjoyed visualizing the lives of the characters as if they were real people.

Yet, she thrilled even over the heartbroken chords of a rock song. She loved writing and writing and writing whenever she could, and she loved singing. Just, everything that went into even one rock song always awed her. Rose knew that time was crucial for any budding romance, but she'd never expected to fall in love right now.

Yet, when his green eyes looked up into hers, when he offered just that one candy heart, her heart seemed to come alive. She'd nearly gasped in surprise. Somehow, just one candy heart meant far more than roses, and she wasn't quite sure what to say about all of that. She was just watching him, coming up with words that could fill the space of the air between them.

"Yes." Tumbled out before logic could form more coherent words in her mind to tiptoe out of her lips. Rose shifted, brushing at strands of hair too small to be in her way, and she wondered if her words were clear to the boy standing before her, "I-I want to be your Valentine." She barely bit back, forever and ever, because that was cliche, and she couldn't predict the future, though she'd try for that time stamp regardless.

"You will?" Nathanael's eyes lit up, and he gingerly passed her the candy. When it brushed against her fingers, she nearly saw a dozen or so possibilities stretched out before them. Rose dusted her wandering mind off and gave him her full attention.

"Yes, I like you, Nathanael." It came out in a soft murmur, and yet, she knew it was true. She'd always admired her artistic friend's art work, adored his handwriting, had thought that his long hair was super cute, and had been putty under the gaze of his green eyes every now and again.

"I like you too." Valentine's Day joy seemed to light up his face, not only in pretty hues of pink and red, but also in each glimmer of his eyes, with each twitch of his smile, going wider and wider still.

"So," Nathanael looked rightly lost for words; he probably hadn't expected an 'yes.'

Rose waited patiently, or at least that's what her parents had told her helped them out at the beginning. Waiting, biding time, and being absolutely patient with each other as they fell slowly but surely head over heels in love with each other.

"So, do you want to be more than just this year's Valentines?" He lightly kicked his shoe against the carpet, looking nervous but still quite happy.

"Yes!" Rose wondered if her enthusiasm sounded more like the response to a proposal than an attempt to ask her out, "Next year's, and the year after that, too." Rose paused, questioning how time limited those words were, "For as many years, as you'll want me to be your Valentine." She's smiling even as her own cheeks are tinted a little pink and as she looks up at his green eyes, always full of such emotion and eye capturing beauty.

"Does that mean-" Nathanael cut himself off as he looked at her, probably wondering if the words really needed to be said.

"I'll gladly be your girlfriend." Just sort of stumbled out, and Rose was beaming when her now boyfriend's eyes met hers with such a sparkle and such a depth of joy that her own heart raised to join his. Rose suddenly knew that candy hearts would never, ever look silly to her again. She'd always loved their pink tones, and yet the familiarity of the words this time of year, had made them seem a little silly. Now, she knew their true depth.

"Thank you." Rose isn't sure what he's thanking her for, but she loops her arms around him in a steady hug regardless. It's nice and warm, and already, Rose practically feels at home in his arms. She can barely believe that she went from just a friend maker to a friend maker with a boyfriend that she really, really liked.


	2. Love

Love is a pretty, little, loaded word. It's rich with meaning, delicate in simplicity, and sturdier than people often expect. Marinette knew this, and yet, even words on a page had a hard time conveying just what it was. She knew as she felt exhaustion creep into her skin and stay, nestled in, nice and deep that this was hard to characterize. Her arms felt like lead, and only mornings like these seemed to drag her down and make her hate being Ladybug. Though the anxiety attacks, held usually in private, and scary moments also had a claim to making her hate her superhero status.

Right now, her arms were wool, and her legs were the cushion-y plush of velvet. Soft like butter, but not worth its salt, if she were to stand up. She'd only fall over then, stumble, and become a bigger klutz than she'd ever been. She sighed. Gym never wore her out like this as she peeked up, just to see her mother enter the room.

Marinette wonders vaguely if there is some sort of maternal alarm that gets fired off in her mother's head when it is far too difficult for Marinette to move forward. There has to be something, because she hadn't uttered a single word or a cry for help, and her mother was entering her room, sitting down beside her.

"Your father and I made tea." Sabine smiled, soft and reassuring, just there in a way that was hard to articulate.

"Thank you." Marinette reached out for the age old family cure. It always soothed sore muscles in a rush that floated down to rest in warm pools in her belly that spread outward to cover and relax muscles. The teenage superhero merely blinked her eyes shut as she sipped the hot beverage, nearly bitter, but not overly so.

"You're welcome." Sabine was calm even now, as if there were no need for theatrics as she reached out to her daughter and just loved her in a way that truly shown.

"I think I ran too much during the attack yesterday." She's too weary to clarify and state that she ran from the Akuma as though frightened, but it just doesn't seem right to lie to her mother, so she lets her words out, honest and vague. She did run and flip and fight and struggle during the entirety of the fight, and her muscles are killing her. Soreness was not really attributed to the Akuma fight in the same way that actual damages caused by the Akuma were, so she sometimes had to wake up and deal with sore muscles and burning limbs.

"I'm glad you're safe." Sabine murmured, and the truth to that sentence resonated with every syllable, and Marinette could melt within it. Just to know that someone with absolute sincerity and love just wanted your safety above all else during something potentially really bad without at least some superheroes to fix the problem and bring it back to normal is uplifting and nurtures the heart in delicate cadences.

"Me too." She wonders if the Akuma had worn Cat Noir out just as much, if each rush against it's quick blows and moving as much and as quickly as possible to both dodge and counter attack had worn him out. It was times like these that she wondered if he'd been better prepared for the superhero life than she was. Marinette could attribute her athletic training prior to being a superhero to lifting heavy bags of flour and gym class, which wasn't saying a whole lot other than the fact that she had upper arm strength.

She wanted to curl up into a ball though and wish the soreness away with a long nap. She barely recalled sore mornings after lifting flour or gym class, though she knew that they happened every now and again when she'd really pushed herself beyond what she knew prior to that that she could. Marinette stifled a yawn and realized that tiredness hadn't slipped out of her system yet.

It's only later as Sabine helps her daughter down the stairs, very carefully, to grab breakfast before class begins, that Marinette truly basked in the shared love of a mother and a daughter.


	3. Flowers

The thorns sting her hands. She should have had them dethorned, yet she'd been running late as it was to get them bought, to get them nicely made into a beautiful bouquet, and she'd nearly been late to class, even as she sat at her desk and twirled them around and around in her fingers. Nerves held them close to her chest.

How could she even begin to tell him how she felt? It should be easy, hand him flowers, say something, anything, smile, and listen closely to however he would respond. Alix wasn't particularly known for being romantic, and she had absolutely no idea how to do this. It seemed like an easy, step by step process to follow. She'd just talk, listen, answer, and give. It was easy to break into little sections that followed these steps, but it was so much harder to quell the nerves that picked at her chest and coincidentally her heart.

Somehow, it made her doubt whether giving him purple flowers was a good idea. Purple was not the overwhelmingly romantic color of red, nor was it the friendship centered white or yellow. She happened to like the color, purple, and was still debating and working out whether that was romantic or not, or whether he knew the meanings of flowers and if he did, did she pick the right kind? Her mind fluttered off at break neck speeds.

So, should she whisper it? Shout it? Speak like she normally would? Would the words be best said, dancing off her tongue or would they be better in a messy ramble of a waltz? Were they to be sophisticated or just messy? Should she practice or say what comes naturally? She hadn't practiced this morning or ever, and the thought seemed to separate her from what others probably would have done in her skates.

Alix isn't sure what to make of this crazy feeling, of these crazy hints and tides of love. It was hard to name, let alone articulate. Would Max like the flowers? Was purple too much of a girly color? Would she be able to breathe past her confession? Alix was not a nervous wreck, just a bit jumpy today. That's how she'll think of it; jumpy is much more energetic after all.

She's not nervous, but she has absolutely no idea what he'll say.

* * *

Alix catches him during lunch break. She already isn't sure how to give anyone flowers, as these are the first ones that she's ever bought, not to mention the first time that she's contemplated during this for someone. She never even receives flowers.

It's a matter of days until Valentine's, but she doesn't want to leave this to wait until the 'ideal' day, as today seems as good as any. It allowed her to beat the crowds at the flower shop on the way to school, anyway.

"Max?" It's awkward as she suddenly wants to fidget, but she holds herself still, "These are for you."

Her soft words catch him by surprise, and there's something a lot like pleasantly startled surprise that flickers across his face. Something in her sifts down into her stomach and warms her whole body up at the look.

"For me?" He stands, looking as awkward as she feels for a moment, "Thank you." He accepts the purple roses from her, and Alix feels relief course through her.

"I like you a lot." It comes out easily enough, though it's not at all flowery. She hopes that he is also not a romantic, because surely these words weren't enough for a romantic.

He blinks at her past his glasses and finally his surprise melts away into a gentle look of such tenderness and joy, that Alix almost pegs herself as a romantic.

"I like you too." It's easy with how it rolls off of his tongue, and Alix can't help smiling as she meets his smile with a glance upward and a widening smile across her own face. Something seems to cheerfully lighten the moment, and Alix wonders vaguely if this were a little Valentine's Day magic, even though no one ever seems to wonder about that, ever.

Alix already feels the shift in the air that tells them both that something amazing shall happen between them here on out. It's a delicate feeling that overwhelms the two that had never considered themselves romantics, until they fell for one another.


	4. Secret Admirer

Juleka walks into class, just to see a full vase of blooming red roses congregating on her desk. It's an odd image. They aren't purple, her favorite color, nor are the black roses that most would consider to fit with her 'aesthetic,' instead they are romantic red ones. She pauses, to reach out and touch a soft petal, still slightly damp as if just picked this morning. This has to be a mistake, maybe someone thought she was sitting in Rose's seat or Nathanael's seat or Marinette's or even Marc's seat.

Juleka doesn't have admirers, not when her dreams of being a model are constantly thwarted, not when she plays guitar like her brother to cope with the unexpected tides of life, not when her brother draws more attention than she does. She is not the center of attention and will never be it. Her fingers curl around red petals, gently falling down dethorned stems, and she briefly speculates, who can buy someone red roses in a glass vase on the first of February. You'd need to still be prepared for thirteen days later, but her stomach seems to purr just as a contented kitten might.

Juleka sighs, before she takes her seat. The roses call to her like the song of the sea, and she immediately wants to brush fingers against soft petals again and again, just to know that they are in fact in front of her and intended just for her.

"Juleka!" Rose exclaims as she walks into class a minute later, "Who got you flowers?"

"I don't know," and she's tucking her hair back, fidgeting rather nervously. She doubts that the flowers won't wilt before Valentine's, but she still can't think of anything but just how sweet this gesture really is.

"You don't?" Rose looks lost in thought as she sits down and then scrutinizes the rest of the classroom. Adrien Agreste looks half-slumped over in his seat, tired from probably a long day of photoshoots. Max is writing down what is probably a really complex formula. Nathanael looks scattered as he catches up on last night's homework, a cute drawing on the corner of the page. Alya's scrolling through her phone, checking the LadyBlog for more updates, and Juleka realizes just how bare the classroom is.

Her secret admirer could be in the room this very second, and she would have no idea who it is. She immediately rules out Rose, who had just gotten here, and likely had no way to transport a dozen red roses in a vase and would have gotten her purple ones, besides, and rules out Nathanael. Someone trying to impress wouldn't still be working on last night's homework, unless maybe he had been busy preparing this.

Juleka still doubts it as she watches the artist work, before she turns to look for a tag or a label, saying something either clever and witty, a beautiful picture drawn on it, a name signed neatly, a pretty poem, or even something as simple as 'from your secret admirer.' There is nothing of the sort. It's just roses in a nice vase, and Juleka wonders how whoever it is could afford both a dozen roses and a pretty and decidingly quite new vase, let alone have time to put water in it first.

* * *

It's the second, and there's a huge, _purple _box of gourmet chocolates at her desk. The person must have gotten the right person, because he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Juleka peeks around the room, and sees the same people as the other day minus Rose and with Nino sitting beside Adrien instead. The boys are discussing something obviously mundane like the weather and look as if they've been there a while. She figures that that's all they've been doing.

Nathanael is using his spare time to draw out pictures presumably for his comic. Alya is eyeing Adrien and Nino as if their conversation holds vast secrets. Max is discretely playing a video game to pass the time as they are still pretty early for class. It's a relatively emptu class today too. She peeks at the door, and no one comes through at her shift of focus.

She sits down and fiddles with the box before she realizes that this is a custom pattern. On the pretty bow overtop that is just a few shades darker than the box is her name in light purple, 'Juleka Couffaine,' implying that this couldn't be a mistake and that likely whoever her secret admirer was couldn't be broke. The box itself was a dark purple with pretty light purple hearts scattered in even patterns throughout. It cheerfully proclaimed when she eventually peeked inside, an assortment of dark and milk chocolate candies.

Her belly warms up at the gesture, and she suddenly wishes that she could thank that person in person. The roses were a beautiful and wonderful gift that she still couldn't explain to her mom when she had gotten home yesterday. She had placed them on her vanity in her bedroom and had looked at their delicate petals until she'd fallen asleep last night, wondering if the person knew of her near constant struggle with self esteem, whether her secret admirer loved her, or something else entirely.

Juleka didn't know what to say to Rose when fifteen minutes later, she ran into the classroom grateful not to be late. She'd merely turned to roll call as Rose tried to question her, seeking answers that she didn't know if she could provide if questioned.

* * *

Today, there's something typed up with a pretty hand drawn heart on the side. Juleka picks it up, carefully, holding it like a prized gem, vaguely wondering if her secret admirer had spent all his money or maybe all of his ideas. The poem on the page quickly changed her mind on that matter, entirely.

'When I slink

into the ever expanding night,

I think back to you,

as each moment together grounds me

in ways that I can't find words for,

Each word that you ever spoke

to me is drifted into the home

of my heart,

kept as reminders of all that you mean

to me, as days float into months

I still only dream in color,

once I've talked to you,

and, I only know the beat of my heart

when it beats, in tune,

with yours'

It's short and sweet, and Juleka is positive that he's managed to melt her heart and carry it off with him somewhere that her heart isn't able to hide from, a place where she wouldn't need to. Juleka's too tired to investigate the classroom as she doesn't even want to know who else is there right now.

* * *

The cat stuffed animal surprises her the next day. It's a purple and black kitty cat, and it is laid in a pretty box of fake, purple rose petals. Juleka stops to pick it up. It's adorable, though she has never been the collect the stuffed animal type. A stuffed bear is more traditional as she gazes at the heart the cat is holidng, 'Be Mine.' It makes her pause to trace the words with her fingertips.

Should she put more effort into her appearance on days that she has class as she gingerly cuddles the cat close? Maybe any effort for one who already likes her is too much, unless he'd appreciate the gesture as well. She wishes that she could give him a gift back, but he never signs his name on any of the gifts that he leaves behind.

* * *

Juleka isn't sure after plush cats, beautiful vases of roses, gourmet, custom chocolates, and poetry what to exactly expect on Valentine's Day when it finally arrives, but it isn't this. Her whole desk is covered in a dark purple table cloth, even Rose's side. On top of that are two vases of roses: the red ones more on her side and the purple ones closer to Rose's side.

Smack dap in the middle is a huge box of gourmet chocolates somehow upon closer inspection filled with her favorites from the previous set. It's purple though it is not labeled with her name on it, this time. Sitting right on top is another poem, this time hand written.

Juleka picks that up first eyeing her decked out table, noticing rather late that she had two stuffed animals this time. A black and green cat that somehow brought to mind Cat Noir and a blue and purple bear that held red roses as if symbolizing her secret admirer. She carefully read through the poem.

'Often, I am like the sun,

but the sun is pointless

without his moon,

and you are the moon

that guides the night in its rest

and lets the day arrive as with

a kiss goodnight.'

Juleka briefly let the words float over her before she finally set down the poem carefully at her desk, too stunned to read for once a tiny signature underneath the poem. Instead, she carefully picks up the chocolates, wondering why the room suddenly feels filled to the brim with people, especially the hushed Rose standing beside her, looking on in awe, too nervous to take her seat down at the very decorated desk.

'Love Adrien Agreste,' peeks out at her from the bow this time. Juleka nearly falls over as the shock hits her like a ton of feathers, gentle but commanding. Juleka can barely breathe. No one goes through the much effort for a woman that he isn't sure will say, 'yes' at the end of the day.

Her hands are still trembling as she sets the box down to pick up the poem, finding his tiny, neatly written, 'Adrien Agreste, AA,' at the bottom by way of a signature. Her heart skitters to a dead stop before tapping out a rhythm that she can't even keep tune with, if she were to pick up a guitar in this moment.

Juleka suddenly is so overwhelmed with a kind of delicate joy that she wants to sit down and cry; it's hard to imagine warranting this kind of love or attention. She surely couldn't be pretty enough to catch a model's eye, nor could she somehow be the right kind of person to charm him, accidentally. She didn't fumble her words often, but she wasn't one with elegant speech either. She has always been just Juleka, and now, she wasn't sure if the just had ever been there in Adrien's gaze to her.

When he steps up to her, he's holding a single rose, and he looks as nervous as she feels overwhelmed. It's a shock when he moves to hand it to her, "I know that this is probably an odd display," His face turns red, "but, I hoped that it would tell the girl that I love just how I feel." Adrien's green eyes are nervous, but they are soft.

Juleka steps closer, pressing a kiss against his cheek. "I wish that I had something for you too." She murmurs, guilt clawing back at her stomach now that the joy was easier to deal with, less imbued with shock as it now was.

"This is enough." Adrien smiled at her, "I don't need anything." She realizes belatedly that he holds the twelfth red rose, the very one that completes her vase of flowers. That comes as a surprise when it finally sinks in later than night, but for now, she looks up into his eyes and hopes that somehow she can convey just how much this means to her or even just how long ago she'd fallen for him and yet couldn't find the words to say or the confidence to become, which she instead hid.

Juleka had never expected that her crush could like her back just as much as she thinks back to their one photoshoot together, that still sends sparks through her veins.


	5. Hearts

It's center stage, this Valentine's. Heart cards, heart shaped chocolate boxes, stuffed bears and other animals holding hearts, and of course, the actual giving of a heart. Hearts aren't really given just one day out of a year or rather in one instant either. You can't give a heart without the process that happens before that.

Rose sighed, hand toying with a heart shaped card, blank as if there were nothing more to say. Rose presses down one of the curved sides and sighs as she glances away from the card and around her room. Everything seems to fall as if they were plush and pink down feathers, carefully arranged in a seemingly normal bedroom. Her bed is pink and carefully, the sheet is laid down overtop, followed by a soft blanket that she's held on to ever since she turned five.

There are pictures across her wall. Juleka and Rose hanging out, snapshots that tell the story of a friendship, and pictures of Rose and Marinette laughing one day, that a friend of theirs had taken without either being aware, until they were shown the picture, beautiful joy that could encase a moment.

Rose peeks at a picture of Luka, Juleka, and her crowded on a couch together, Rose, for once, is squished in the middle. She isn't surprised that she could see the brotherly and sisterly bond between her two friends even in the picture, nor is she surpised about how comfortable she is there.

She peeks at a picture of her with Juleka, Mylene, Marinette, Adrien, Alix, and Alya. They are having fun, and Rose's lips are tilted up in an almost laugh, the picture being taken before the sound can even leave her lips. Rose isn't sure why these pictures of friendship that always fill her with warmth make her feel enclosed.

She stared at the light pink heart in her hand and let a sigh loose that felt more like a collapse, maybe the card wasn't meant to happen. If she could narrow down a best friend right now, she wouldn't be able to choose anymore. Juleka's always been by her side, and in a way, she is Rose's bestest best friend, but it's hard not to say that Marinette with her steady warmth and generosity isn't her best friend.

How could she deny that Adrien as recently as he came into her life became a very close friend? Could she surmise somehow that Luka that she's known for years isn't also her best friend? Or, what about Alix, with how determined and loyal she is? Or, what about Mylene who is strong and gentle at the same time? Or, Alya that somehow manages to push people into stronger versions of themselves through her steady stream of energy and encouragement?

Rose isn't sure if she has a best friend and glancing back down at the card sitting on her lap, isn't entirely sure if she has a crush either. Maybe, just maybe, she could give her heart in a way that isn't so romantically traditional? She'd figure out love eventually, but it's sudden as a single girl to pick and place a dart into a future romance.

She stands up, card in hand, as she makes her way away from pink and into the casual browns of the kitchen, bright wooden colors surround her more so as she debates over how to gift a kind of love to others that is readily available as the friend that she always strives to be is. Just how much, she loves and appreciates them should flow from this day and onward, as she reaches out for a chance to bake something sweet for all of them.


	6. Crush

It wasn't a crush or at least, Chloe wouldn't tell anyone about it, so it couldn't be a crush. Though, that wouldn't erase her feelings and neither would pretending that her feelings were everything that they were before this. A hidden or secret crush was not really something other than a crush.

Chloe wasn't particularly sure that he'd ever like her back, and really, neither was she sure that she deserved him anyway. She had a high self esteem; you could ask anyone. Just, she'd been crumbled before waiting to become Queen Bee all over again, and she'd often been the woman overlooked for a date, though that didn't mean that people didn't have crushes on her either. Kim had liked her once.

Chloe sighed, staring at a small comic book that lay nearly splattered against her desk. It looked thin from her angle, half-burying herself against her bed. It was faint, if you counted all of the things in her room. Yet, the words never made her pick it up. Chloe was not a reader, nor was she an art admirer, and she wouldn't claim nerd status, the status that Adrien proudly held. In many ways, she'd rather be something fitting a socialite, and in many other ways, she'd rather not be.

Chloe was not going to binge read comics, flipping through the stories, entranced. It was just that one comic in her room, with that one story, with those particular drawings, and by those particular people. She didn't buy it for Ladybug, for once. That had faded when disappointment crushed her beneath it's heavy, sturdy weight. Chloe was not going to be an admiring fan, but she wouldn't become nearly a criminal in the way that Lila had. She wasn't going to broadcast a hatred for Ladybug or live in a kind of hate. Sure, she was unhappy, and sure, she kind of did want to help Hawkmoth out sometimes, but she wouldn't hate her. It was the principle of it, anyway.

Yet, sitting innocently on the desk in her room was a comic, and it talked of Ladybug, Cat Noir, and the Evillustrator among others. It was a simple thing, something to hold on to, and to read when you craved adventure or romance. Chloe sighed, wondering why instead of missing Queen Bee in this moment, she was thinking almost nostalgically about the past. Evillustrator was a sore subject for her now; it never used to be.

Chloe had never really regretted getting someone Akumatized in the way that others might. She hadn't been battered with guilt like Ladybug had been so many times before, nor did she feel this steady urge to re-Akumatize people, though sometimes it was easier to claim 'Alpha' status and superiority for being Queen Bee and get someone re-Akumatized, partly in hope that she'll be called upon to save the day.

Just, Evillustrator was different. He hadn't always been. The comic did not erupt a kind of empathy or rather sympathy in her chest for the ex-Akuma, but she'd slowly felt this guilt pile up when everything else came tumbling in. Yes, Chloe had feelings that she hadn't neccessarily begged for.

She was a girl that wished that it was easier to be in love with her childhood best friend, to latch on, and never really let go. It wasn't. Or, at least in relation to crushes, it wasn't easy at all. It was a time of rising and falling feelings, much like each steady breath that left her lungs. She brushed blonde hair aside and closed her eyes, trying hard not to picture her crush.

Yet, that book sat on her desk as if shouting to the world who she had fallen in love with. Queen Bee with an Ex-Akuma, or an Ex-Hero with an Ex-Akuma? Rather, Chloe had started to wonder if he would have been the most heroic out of the two of them. Yet, she didn't really want to trade her Miraculous for the world over. It gave a sort of freedom and excitement that one could easily become addicted to.

Chloe ran a tentative hand across the cover, giving up. It was a simple design, but it boldly proclaimed the particular boy that she was thinking of. The Evillustrator lined the cover, standing tall, handsome, and strong. She wasn't going to pretend that she didn't find her classmate attractive, but she also wasn't going to tell anyone that she could get lost in his green eyes, that she did want to run her fingers through his long, red hair, that she wondered if it was okay to fall in love with an artist, when she never really understood art.

Yes, she'd fallen in love with a boy that she'd once bullied, but she had no ready made solution, not even another simple fix. It just was what it was. She'd discovered the hero in him, the non-Miraculous holding classmate that circumstance forced her to admire from afar.

She felt that sad tugging in her chest, and just wished that he'd look at her the way that his drawings of his Akumatized self looked at Ladybug. It was probably too much to ask for, but she'd hold on to that hope, regardless.


	7. Pink And Red

Pink for affection. Red for I'll lay down my life for you. The perfect colors for Valentine's.

Often though, Rose was associated with her favorite color, pink, while her boyfriend was associated with the color red. Yet, it was so much more than that as she fiddled with a couple roses, watching the dethorned flowers move through her fingers. One that was pink, and the other that was red.

She'd been fighting with herself over what colors could possibly show an everlasting love, with a desire for the years to do nothing more than help them grow together and mature as one. Rose is smiling, though she feels that she should have picked up some Lamb's Ear too, though she knows that the more that she debates over all of this, the more money that she doesn't have that she'll spend. It's why she's only holding two roses and not a dozen of them.

Roses just this once seemed far more romantic than chocolate, and yet, she can't seem to find the words to express herself, with about twenty five different love letters scattered over her desk. She'd been trying to compose something, sweet, genuine, and real for him, but no words seemed to say it just right. They either weren't enough or they went over the top.

Her eyes flickered back over to them, before she opted to stand. Today, she'll ask for him to marry her, she'll propose, even though a part of her wants to hear him say those words instead. Rose's mind is more blank than she remembers it being, as she grabs her phone, smiling faintly at the text from Nathanael.

She grabbed her purse and left all of her discarded letters behind. She'd have to trust her lips and tongue to say the words that her mind could not quite articulate.

* * *

Nathanael was holding a box of chocolates when they met up at the park, fingers tapping out an uneven rhythm against it. He seemed just as nervous as Rose felt. She eyed his fidgety hands as if they held all of life's answers, though she could not read why they were so fidgety.

"Hey." Nathanael's smiling though, and Rose immediately breathes in a breath of fresh air that relaxes her slightly. He offers her the box.

"Hey." She accepts it with a very shy, "Thank you." It feels different today; this Valentine's feels like something other than it has ever felt like. She isn't quite sure why, other than the way the roses feel in her hands, and somehow her palms are sweaty.

"These are for you." She hands over both roses, realizing belatedly that she could be seen as the third one, given her name.

"Thank you." Nathanael's smile looks even brighter. "Do you want to walk over to my studio?"

Rose loves visiting the small studio that he bought some months back. It's tiny, and yet, since he bought it, he doesn't have to rent it out. It's always full of half-complete projects and gorgeous paintings that she can never take her eyes off of. She was still surprised that they weren't in museums yet.

"I'd love to." Nathanael offers his hand as soon as he hears her agree to go. It's a decent sized walk from this park, but it isn't necessarily a bad one. It gives more time to talk and to hold hands as hours seem to pass by in moments.

And talk, they do. They speak of the sunrise this morning, both having woken up with the sun surprisingly. Rose still didn't know how they could be so coordinated when they lived on opposite ends of Paris. They spoke of their rather busy weeks leading up to Valentine's Day. They spoke of their families' various traditions this time of year and how they were playing out so far. They attempted to set up a date for this coming up week, but couldn't decide on where to go. Nothing seemed just right, whether concerts or museum visits or walks across parks or streets or even any of their favorite restaurants. None seemed fitting for next week.

Finally, they walked across the street and arrived at Nathanael's studio as he unlocked it and led her in. As he went to flicker on the lights, he looked over at her, and Rose could see the nervousness that fluttered from one end of his face to the other. He was never nervous like this showing her his artwork, whether it was the paintings that lined his studio or the comics that he drew.

Rose took a deep breath as light flickered on, and she looked up at a painting that she'd never seen before, whether in progress or not. It was in the absolute center of the small studio, was dry and clearly not too recently painted, and colors reminded her simultaneously of the sunset or even this morning's sunrise and the starlit nights from a little outside of the Parisian limits.

In the middle of the painting was a carefully painted silhouette of a woman in white and a man in black. Their hands were intertwined though no distinguishing aspects of who they were could be seen. You couldn't tell the hair color, and the two weren't facing towards the onlookers of the painting. It was merely their backs and them encased in near shadow.

Her eyes traced upward and the stars overhead seemed to shape out words. 'Will you marry me, Rose?' Her breath got trapped in her throat, and she nearly dropped the box of chocolates that Nathanael gave her, and she just had to look at him. It wasn't hope that painted these words there in her mind, right?

She spun around to glance down at her boyfriend. He'd dropped to one knee and in his hand was a black jewelry box with the most gorgeous engagement ring inside that Rose had ever seen. It was pink and white, not striped, and yet the colors resting side by side. The band was thin and gold, and Rose could just picture all of the promises that this very ring represented. The unity, the desire for countless years together, and her breath was once again stopped in her throat.

"Yes! Yes, Yes!" She's nearly jumping as she lets the chocolate box finally slip from her hands, and she runs at her boyfriend to hug him, or perhaps she should call him her fiancee. Her heart is running a marathon in her chest, and her mind is still kind of blank, right now.

Rose can barely breathe past the hammering heart in her chest as she clings to Nathanael, eager for these years to stretch out at this beautiful, perfect pace. He slips the ring on her finger, and she can tell that he's trembling slightly. It slides on perfectly, matched correctly to the size of her ring finger.

Rose has no idea when he figured out her ring size, but the pink and red that she couldn't even begin to define earlier somehow comes to mind, a love that can last eternity.


	8. Heartbreak

Gabriel wouldn't call it heartbreak, and yet, he couldn't really not call it that either. It was grief, definitely. His heart was also split into two, very distinct and separate pieces. Just he missed her. It felt as if his soulmate, the very person that connected his soul with hers as if she'd sewn them together, was ripped out of his life.

He'd loved her since they first met, fell for something within her that seemed so far beyond anything he'd ever known. She wasn't arrogant or cruel, but she was gentle, enthusiastic, and energetic. She held a certain level of energy that didn't overflow a cup, and yet could hold so much more than that without needing to topple water right on out.

They'd been faithful, not once, had she cheated or had he. Not once, did they decide that lies were safer than the truth. Not once, did they decide that the other wasn't a valuable, beautiful part of their life. Not once, did they opt out of remaining strong for the other person.

Gabriel glanced down at her grave, feeling his heart quake in his chest, feeling it splinter. He felt guilty, not just heartbroken, but guilty. Did he cause this? Did she love him or Duusuu too much to stop things before they went too late? She had to know the difficulty of the quickly vanishing life within her, and he's still holding on to what little remains now.

Gabriel feels that crack in his heart just grow and grow deeper, and he just wishes that he could wrap her up in his arms and hold her close against the onslaught of this pain that launches itself like a waterfall in his chest. It guzzles and seems to choke on itself as he reaches out to touch stone instead of skin. It's not warm, nor is it soft.

Finally, the tears drip and fall, and he can't hold them back, doesn't want to. He lets himself cry, caught up in her memory and trying to hold on to it, rather tightly. He doesn't ever want to forget her even as his heart continues to break and fall apart. He needs this moment as it longs to fade from him, and he slumps against her stone.

He no longer can cuddle with her in the morning, feeling a steady warmth that reminds him that he is alive. He no longer can find her with their son, teaching him whatever lesson seems most important that day. She can't brush Adrien's hair back with a mother's thumb, nor can she tussle Gabriel's when he seems too caught up in professionalism.

Emilie can no longer remind him that taking naps is okay or taking a break to be together, just fitting into the sometimes messy or awkward roles of family that shine and mean so much more than what it may first appear to.

He thinks back to every coughing fit, dizzy spell, and moments of intense headaches that she went through. How each one left another crack and another chip in his heart, splintering into crooked, bloody lines where his heart used to be whole. He thinks of how she put on a bright smile and told him or Adrien that she was fine. She'd always been strong, had always worked hard to stay strong.

Gabriel misses the smell of her skin, the way it could calm him down when she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. He misses the way that she always seemed to know just what he'd wanted to say, the way that she just was everything that he needed, and the joy that kept him going.

He runs a finger down her grave as if he was gently moving her hair out of her face. It's still a cold headstone that he touches and yet her memory is warm. Gabriel can't even find the words to begin to patch up these broken shards, the remnants of a heartbreak that won't ever completely go away.


	9. Cupid

Y'know, it's easy to blame Cupid, and some days, he considers his luck a failure and truly does blame him. Just, Kim isn't sure he could as he eyes his wife, looking just so happy merely swimming in their pool. Right now, the athlete in her as faded into a simple, steadier joy, splashed with more than a little of love of water.

Kim is too busy staring to hop in, even knowing that he's often working too hard to get to the Olympics than to just enjoy the water as it gingerly sweeps past his skin. Yet, Ondine is letting it soak her, letting it guide her, and somehow Kim can't think of a more beautiful sight than his wife in their pool right now.

Later, he'll claim that it was just one moment, and besides, wasn't she gorgeous when she walked down the aisle anyway? Yet, every now and again, little moments like these reminded him of just how much he loves her, just how he'd keep on falling for her, again and again.

He finally grins and dives in, and suddenly they are back to their old game, and life is just familiar and happy, though he won't forget just how much he loves her, just how lucky he was to meet her, and to slowly fall in love with her. Some claim Cupid is the culprit to them finding each other, but Kim says that Dark Cupid was enough Cupid to remind him to no longer appreciate the winged creature with a bow. Besides, he'd found her without Cupid's guidance, and for that, he was immensely grateful.

He waded closer and was only a little surprised when she leaned in for a sudden kiss that he hadn't been anticipating. His heart filled with warmth, and he hugged her closer.


	10. Balloons

Manon was having a good day, if anyone were to ask it. It was two days after Valentine's Day, and her mother was working on an important assignment. Manon, therefore, got to spend the whole day with Marinette wandering through the park. That might be boring, if not for the fact that Marinette was buying Manon something from each balloon stand that they passed. She didn't even seem to mind, either.

Manon was just explaining why she'd gotten an elephant balloon at one, and just why elephants were the coolest and biggest animals, ever, when they finally passed by another one. It was a little stand that like the one that Marinette had bought her an elephant balloon from. The balloon artist had a sign boasting of all of the different balloon 'animals' that he could make.

He was running a special on the superheroes as they appeared, and Manon was faced with choosing between a Viperion themed balloon, a Cat Noir themed balloon, a Ladybug themed balloon, a Pegasus themed balloon, a Rena Rouge themed balloon, a Queen Bee themed balloon, a Bunnyx themed balloon, a Carapace themed one, or a Ryuko themed one. It only looked like a hard choice to pick from.

"Can I get a Ladybug balloon, Marinette?" Really, Manon's favorite superhero was Ladybug, ever since that day that she'd saved Alya and Manon from Stormy Weather. A girl can not just forget her superhero, even when she'd been Akumatized a couple times and therefore fought her before.

"Sure." Marinette smiled as she paid the vendor, "Why Ladybug?"

"She's the best, Marinette!" She cheered, "Ever since, she fought Stormy Weather, that day your friend babysat me too." Manon's smile wanes a little as she stares up at the sky, suddenly feeling small. That day had been a particularly jarring and difficult day.

"Wow." Marinette just smiles back at her as she hands the balloon down to the girl that she's babysitting, mind aflutter with very happy thoughts as they move along, ready to go discover other balloon vendors as they journey through the park. This particular one however already meant the most to them.


	11. Party

Sometimes, a party is a way to reboot, to restore vibrancy where dullness had set in. And yet, Adrien hadn't really expected to get one. Everyday someone turned twenty three or so it seemed, and it wasn't really a landmark occasion, not with college behind him or with him more running a business alongside his father than doing anything else and still perhaps hopelessly single.

Yet, when he came home to what should have been an empty apartment, it wasn't empty. Balloons were nicely spread out over the wall, people that had attempted to hide had given up probably long before he arrived, and there was a large, delicious looking cake resting on his living room table.

He'd only given Nino a spare key, once, just in case Adrien locked himself out of his own apartment. He'd already done that twice.

Somehow though, Marinette was standing with her parents beside the cake. Nino had taken a seat on Adrien's usually empty couch. Chloe was off in the corner, with one of those sincere smiles that she had been starting to give out again, recently. Kagami was even there, looking a little embarrassed but happy too as she held a wrapped gift.

Alya decided to sit down next her husband on the couch. Sabrina stood by Chloe in the corner. Luka had even came along with Juleka and Rose. Nathanael was here, as was Ivan and Mylene. Alix, Max, Kim, and Ondine were also in Adrien's apartment.

It was overwhelming to say the least especially as Wilhelm came up to give him a hug, and Adrien had never been more grateful in his life to have the best friends in the whole world. He'd thought since he'd had to work a little later tonight, and his father and Nathalie were both busy that he'd be working his birthday away, just to come home and sleep. It's a Wednesday! Surely, they would have lots of work to do, and yet, they came by to support him turning twenty three.

He was smiling as he returned Wilhelm's hug, and smiling as they carried their party into his dining room for Adrien to blow out the candles on his cake, a beautiful twenty three. blue candles. His heart felt so overwhelmed with happiness, and he knew that the only way he'd be more stunned is if Ladybug dropped by for a visit.

Adrien could hardly believe life as he sat down to eat cake with all of his friends, wondering what might be next. The cake was delicious, and he knew the bakers that had to have made it so. It was just stunning as he eat a bite at a time, glancing over at the best bakers in Paris, excited just to see where the day would take him.

* * *

Naturally, after cake were the presents, and his friends really outdid themselves. He'd realized belatedly that all of his corner in the living room was actually piled high with gifts. The first he picked up was from Nathanael. As he opened the large, square gift, his heart nearly seemed to give out in joy.

Once opened, Adrien was faced with a gorgeous painting of Paris as if seen from the very top of the Eiffel Tower, a beautiful sunrise ushering in a new day. He had no idea how his friend knew, but that was his favorite sight in all of Paris, just to stand up there, usually beside Ladybug, and watch as day broke overtop the rest of Paris.

"H-How?" Adrien muttered before he could stop himself, "Th-Thank you. This is beautiful." He wanted to nearly tear up, just how could his friend be so thoughtful when they rarely seemed to meet up and talk anymore? Wow.

Nathanael was smiling even as he ducked his head, while Adrien was trying to think about who could have figured this out. His friends were absolutely incredible.

Kagami handed him a pristine wrapped gift, and Adrien dutifully opened it, gaping in wonder at a new fencing sword. His old one was a little worn down after all this time, and he hadn't went out to fence in a while, despite really wanting to.

Next, he opened up a gift from Ivan and Mylene, exclusive Jagged Stone headphones that had been sold out in stores as of two months ago. Not only that, but Adrien found that underneath was a beautifully written rock song by Ivan for him, cheerfully appreciating him as a friend.

Marinette had made him a whole new outfit he found when he opened it up. A beautiful light blue tie to go along with a dark suit with the barest hint of a pattern along the suit jacket. Adrien couldn't thank her enough. This had to take so long to make.

Sabine and Tom gifted him a beautiful glass ornament, that Adrien was eager to hang up somewhere in his house and maybe put on his tree next Christmas. They also gave him a certificate for free sweets from their bakery whenever he came around that would last a whole year.

Alix gifted him a new set of fencing gear, as if she had went and talked with Kagami beforehand to make sure that she gifted him the right thing. While Luka gifted him the newest Kitty Section album signed by all of them, and Jagged Stone's newest album.

Ondine and Kim bought him a whole new basketball hoop and basketball. Chloe bought him a new piano, which Adrien had no idea how she knew just what kind of piano was of the quality and make that he'd been eyeing for some time.

Rose bought him a Jagged Stone shirt, while Juleka bought him the hair products and soaps that Adrien actually preferred. Max went out of his way to buy Adrien the newest console out along with Ultimate Mecha Strike's Seventh game and various other really awesome games.

Sabrina bought him a concert ticket for Jagged Stone's upcoming concert that Kitty Section was the opening band for. Alya and Nino got him an exclusive birthday message from Ladybug, and a new Foosball table.

Wilhelm had bought Adrien a whole new Physics set, packed to the brim with some very interesting sounding Physics books, a few materials for experiments, and even the basic guide to teaching Physics to high schoolers. Already, Adrien wished he could be in a classroom teaching finally. Yet, this was such a beautiful start that Adrien received them rather happily.

Adrien could hardly believe just how incredible all of his friends were or just how beautiful the birthday that he never thought he'd remember went. Now, it really was a notable birthday and a wonderful day to remember. Adrien has the best friends ever, especially as he realizes that they'd thrown a little get together with Jagged Stone playing just for Adrien's birthday, and when Ladybug did manage to sneak in to wish him a very personal happy birthday.

Adrien was still stunned and giddy when he passed out in his bed late that night, even knowing that tomorrow, he won't want to get up for work in the morning. Yet, today was so worth all of the tiredness of the impending week.


	12. Be Mine

Emilie had already begun to fall for her friend, an aspiring fashion designer with dreams far bigger than the world could hold, when he turned to her on Valentine's and offered a beautiful bouquet of red roses coupled with pretty green stems, carefully and meticulously dethorned. It's a sight that stills her, as the water below her rustles gingerly in response.

"Th-Thank you." She isn't sure what to say as she takes the bouquet carefully from him.

"Be mine." It's a soft whisper nearly caught in the wind before he corrects himself, "Will you be my Valentine?" It's said with such genuine hope that she can't imagine answering any other way.

"Of course." She leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek, not knowing whether this will be a love quickly swept out as if a flame awaiting doom on a birthday candle or if it will be a marriage that spans years and lights beautiful fires in her heart and soul, a marriage that she'd die to preserve.

It's an odd realization as she glances back down at red roses and hopes that this won't be a quick romance but a steady, long lasting one. She almost wants to say, 'I love you,' but they've only known each other for a smattering of months, and she'd rather confess if he ever fully asks her out.

Gabriel glances back at the water that has stilled before them, and Emilie's already smiling softly at the delicately attentive lake before them, when he finally asks the next question.

"Would you like to go out with me?" He guards his words as if the more formal the better, and Emilie is sure it is because of just who her parents are or the wealth that never flees from them.

"I would love to." She leans against his side, letting the cool air soak up and delve into her joy. It's such a wonderfully bright Valentine's that she already can't wait for the future ones that will surely follow in its trail.


	13. Sweethearts

Sweethearts don't just spring up overnight as it takes years and years to build up a relationship that is strong and steady. It's something that at once seems delicate and steady, strong and fragile, gentle and powerful.

Sabine is still smiling as she kneads dough, relaxing under the constant push and pressure that it requires of her, as she glances up to see her husband back from the front to work inside the bakery, giving her a chance to switch out with him. It was a slow day, and naturally, that meant that Sabine got to step into the domain of the kitchen and really work among flour, yeast, dough, and any number of fresh ingredients. It was on slow days like this one that she got to melt into her work, but it was also slow days like this one, that gave her a moment to quiet thought to reflect on just how much she loves her husband.

It's a steady love that grows stronger and stronger with the passage of time, so there's always more to marvel at, more awe to be struck by, more joy to savor every second spent with him. Joy isn't always an emotion, it's a way of life, and everyday with her husband provides that rush of joy, the steadfast hold that keeps her strong when things aren't going quite so strongly.

Once she's watching the dough rise, she glances back at her husband, hard at work on what looks to be Macarons, and the quiet works through him in ways different than it does her. He is so focused that conversation does not rise between them, and so she just watches, let's Tom be as absorbed in his work as could be. It's a sort of joy and passion that's always been strong for him, since he was a kid.

Sabine loves that Tom's living his dreams, that he's happy, and that makes her heart swell with love, even as she finally takes the now baked bread out, and moves to reclaim the counter space, always aware that even slow days had customers. Today's quiet as Valentine's Day draws nearer, still a week off, means that she'll need to plan ahead, and today might just be the day that they celebrate.

Picking out flowers that speak delicately and beautifully for her, that she'll gift to her husband and baking him something homemade with more love and delicate attentiveness than most would expect beckon to her as she debates whether today will be an early close for the bakery or if there's a chance that she'll find a way to celebrate her and her husband's love, that fostered and grew with the years, today.


	14. (Saint) Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day may seem just like a day that comes and goes, flutters in just to dart out, but yet the history of it was much more meaningful than that. Alya paused thoughtfully, as she read carefully from an article explaing Saint Valentine, a man that was martryed for his Faith, executed for presiding over people's weddings. At that time, the young men and women were forbidden to marry, and yet Father Valentine, a Roman Catholic Priest, would marry them anyway, so that the in love couples could finally be married.

This would cost him his life. Alya considered just what she'd be willing to risk if she were in that time period. Alya figured that she would still marry Nino, even if it was illegal as she stood up to wander towards the living room, where her husband was crashed on the couch after DJing at everything from Valentine's Dances to Birthday Parties to "Galentine's Day" events. Alya smiled as she crouched down to plant a kiss on her husband's cheek.

Their schedules drove different habits out of them, because he was forced to stay up late, and she was more often than not, forced to wake up early, though she did often stay up late into the night writing or editing or proofreading an article or two. There was always so much to do, and the fun quality of it kept her mind from wandering down rather sad paths.

Alya smiled as Nino stirred a tiny bit and left the apartment in search of some fresh brewed coffee and hopefully some Saint Valentine's Day sales or at least people selling romantic or heartshaped goodies that she could bring home and surprise her husband with.

* * *

She returned with two giant chocolate hearts, two coffees called the Love Spell, and a beautiful bouquet of red roses, Lamb's Ear, and beautiful lilacs. Admittingly, she knew that Nino had stayed up working too late to so much as buy her anything for Valentine's Day, but she didn't ultimately mind. She understand.

Alya was a periodically late shopper anyway. She smiled, and gingerly nudged her husband awake. "Nino, hey, Nino?" She was nearly giggly as finally the tiredness and sleep had worn off of her while she was reading and especially while she was shopping.

Her husband opened one golden brown eye, and Alya grinned triumphantly.

"Happy Saint Valentine's Day!" Maybe, he'd ask about that one 'extra' word or maybe he wouldn't as she stole her first kiss of Valentine's Day. When her lips pressed against her husband's, he responded with the delicate joy that being together for so long helped grow. Alya was still smiling long after the kiss ended and long after they shared an admittingly unhealthy Saint Valentine's Day breakfast together.


End file.
